Page 7

CHAPTER 6

EMERY

I’m inundated with questions as soon as I step inside the family suite, which isn’t fair, because I have questions, too, but it’s five against one.

“I’ve found her, and look, she’s wearing an Arty jersey. Refuses to tell me why,” Kiley says. The WAGs’ resident theatre nerd, Kiley Forge has a flare for the dramatic and never passes up an opportunity to be a matchmaker.

“I told you I was forced to buy it,” I protest, but my explanation about the coffee is lost under her best friend Harper’s question, which comes next.

Harper Roberts is a paediatric nurse who loves her hockey-playing husband a lot , but hates the limelight. She and Kiley are total opposites, but they’ve been besties since elementary school. “How long are you in town?”

“Just overnight, but I’ll be back next week…” I trail off as Shannon Barker, Rusty’s girlfriend, elegantly moves our friends out of the way and wraps her arms around me, giving me the world’s nicest, least earned hug ever.

Because next week’s game will be between my brother’s team, Alexei’s old team, and the Highlanders, who traded Max “Shannon’s Ex-Husband” Tilman away after Rusty smashed his face into the dressing room floor.

That game will be the return of the former captain to the building.

Really puts a pale on my own personal drama that nobody knows about.

I squeeze her back.

“Hi,” I whisper.

“We’ve missed you,” she whispers back.

I was never meant to be a part of this friend group. My whole introduction to them was a ruse I pushed on Rusty because he clearly needed a shove—I just didn’t realize that shove should be into Shannon’s arms.

If I had, I would never have pretended to be his girlfriend.

A lot of other people might hold a grudge or be wary of me for that choice, but not Shannon. She is a stunningly beautiful person, inside and out, and even though I’ve kept my distance for other reasons, we’ve forged an unlikely friendship over text messages and video calls.

She now works for the team as part of their marketing and public relations department. And she’s quietly, deeply in love with a man who would hang stars in the sky for her if she asked.

The last time we talked, she was at Rusty’s apartment, and he was talking about finding a house or a bigger apartment.

I pull back and look at her. There's a brightness in her eyes that is unmistakeable happiness. “How goes the house hunting?”

She laughs. “Did Russell ask you to say that?”

“He doesn’t even know I’m here.”

Her eyebrow curves up in surprise. “Really?”

Guilt guilt stabby guilt.

“Share the hugs,” Ani Hale says. She has to lean in to make room around a baby bump. When I last saw her, her and her husband were just talking about having kids, and now one is on the way.

It underlines how many months have zoomed by.

“Hey, friend,” I say softly.

And then Becca Kincaid joins us, her son shadowing his mom. She asks me what I’ve been up to, how cooking is going.

I take a deep breath. “Well, I’m actually going back to school! I’ve been accepted at a culinary institute in Switzerland for a program that starts in July.”

Shannon squeezes my hand. “That’s amazing!”

“I honestly didn’t think I’d get accepted, so it was a bit of a shock. And then I immediately went into preparation mode and stopped taking on new personal chef clients, which has left me a little at odd ends for the next few months.”

“You could come visit.”

“Thanks. But I’m?—”

The door to the suite opens behind me, and something about it, like an energy I can’t ignore, has me pivoting to see who it is, even though everyone I know is right in front of me.

There’s a faint warning at the back of my mind that it could be Alexei’s girlfriend, but no, it’s worse.

It’s his mother, Maria Artyomov, and she has his daughter in her arms. I recognize them both from photographs very recently shoved in front of my face.

“So sorry,” Maria says, out of breath. “Inessa is hungry.”

“That’s okay,” Becca exclaims. “Hey, sweetie. Come on in.”

I try to hold my breath as if that might make me invisible, but no such luck. I can’t escape Artyomovs today, apparently.

Becca reaches for Inessa. “Do you want to sit with Charlie?”

The little girl gives her a shy nod, but still hesitates before releasing her tight hold on her grandmother.

Heart in my throat, my gaze follows them as Becca circles around the buffet spread and effortlessly picks up a few things a toddler might want to eat, then carries the little girl and the plate down the steps to where her son is watching what’s happening on the ice with rapt attention.

“Say hi to Inessa, Charlie.”

“Hi Inessa,” the little boy says, his gaze darting to her briefly.

The little girl doesn’t say anything back. Becca nudges an apple wedge into her hand, and she carefully takes a tiny bite.

Maria touches my hand. “Emery?”

I jump. “Yes. Hi. I am Emery, yep.”

She smiles. Up close she looks pale and there’s perspiration on her brow. “Your mother is very kind.”

I nod, heart racing. “Yes, she is.”

“She shows photos of you.” She pats my cheek. “Beautiful girl.”

I’m as much a sucker for a compliment as the next beautiful girl, so I smile back. “Thanks.”

She leans on the table, still catching her breath.

I fill the silence. “Hey, so I met your husband already. He’s sitting next to my parents.”

She frowns, like I’ve said too much, too fast.

I pull out my phone and quickly tap it all out in the translation app.

She nods. Then she pushes the microphone button and says something in Russian, which my phone translates on the screen as she talks.

The little one doesn't like watching hockey. It's too noisy, so we explore the building while her dad plays.

“Do you want something to eat?” I gesture to the buffet.

She shakes her head and makes a face, tapping her chest, then my phone.

Heartburn.

Do you need medicine?

I pull the Tums from my pocket and hold it out.

Medicine doesn’t help.

She grimaces and waves her hand. I look at her more closely. Her colour really isn’t great.

Maybe we could get you something stronger?

I glance at Shannon, who senses my attention and lifts her head. “What is it?”

“Mrs. Artyomov doesn’t feel well. She says it’s heartburn, but…”

That gets Harper’s attention. She comes over, too. “What usually helps?”

I type the question into my phone.

The older woman shrugs. Her hand shakes as she reaches for my phone.

I don’t usually have this.

“It’s been a couple years since I did first aid training,” I say softly to Harper. “But isn’t heartburn and sweating two signs of a heart attack in women?”

“Heart attacks aren’t a thing I usually see in my patients,” she says. “But we could go down to the medical room and get checked out. it can’t hurt to have a doctor look at her.”

Doctor is a word the Russian grandma recognizes. Her eyes go wide. “No, I am okay,” she says, laughing. But there’s a wince at the end of it, and reluctantly, she rubs her chest.

Harper immediately pulls out her phone and texts a quick message. “You know Kiley?” She gestures to her best friend. “You’re in luck. Her twin brother is working today. He’s a bone doctor. Also not really a heartburn expert. But he’s…” She glances at her screen. “He’s on his way.”

“Twin brother?” That distracts Maria. “Is he pretty, too?”

Kiley laughs. “Very. Please tell him that.”

Less than a minute later, the suite door opens and someone who really does look like Kiley’s twin brother strides in. Behind him is a woman in a team track suit who introduces them in quick, fluent Russian.

Maria immediately gets flustered, protesting that she’s fine. But as the conversation goes back and forth, they quickly decide not to take her down to be checked out, but rather to call for the paramedics stationed downstairs to come up and just directly transport her to the hospital.

At every NHL game, there’s an ambulance in the Zamboni bay, just in case there is an emergency on or off the ice.

Tonight, it’s happening right in front of me. Someone from team services gets on the radio, and down at rink level, a whistle blows, and the play is stopped.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we ask everyone to remain seated. One of our guests tonight is having a medical event and requires assistance. The game will resume shortly.”